By William Hardie, RSE Policy Advice Manager Last November, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) published an advice paper examining the implications of Brexit for Scotland’s environment. It noted that withdrawal from the EU poses significant challenges to the maintenance and improvement of the quality of Scotland’s environment unless current EU arrangements are adopted in UK … [continue reading]
Brexit and beyond: protecting Scotland’s environment – a first take on the Scottish Government Environmental Principles and Governance Consultation
On 16 February, the Scottish Government issued a consultation on environmental principles and governance in Scotland. It is easy to miss the importance of this – after all what do principles and governance mean in practice? Quite a bit as it turns out! From fracking to GMOs and from the introduction of a deposit return … [continue reading]
Environmental Charities Demand Concrete Action for Scotland’s Nature
Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of 35 Scottish environmental charities, has welcomed the much-awaited Scottish Government consultation on environmental principles and governance in Scotland. At a time of great ecological crisis, the charities believe that the prospect of Brexit threatens to unravel critical environmental protections, and are urging members of the public to respond to … [continue reading]
Environmental Rights are Human Rights
On Monday 10 December, celebrated across the globe as the International Human Rights Day, the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership published its recommendations on “how Scotland can continue to lead by example in the field of human rights”. Entitled “Recommendations for a new human rights framework to improve people’s lives”, the report … [continue reading]
Fighting for Scotland’s Nature a blog by Alistair Whyte, Head of Plantlife Scotland
Blog by Alistair Whyte Scotland is a fantastic place for nature, and plants are a huge part of what’s special about it. From the arctic-alpine wildflowers of our highest summits, to the vibrant, flower-studded machair of the Hebrides, or the Atlantic rainforests of the west coast dripping with lichens, the diversity of our plant … [continue reading]
Opinion editorial: It’s time to fight for Scotland’s Nature
Scottish Environment LINK, a coalition of Scotland’s leading environmental charities has today launched an urgent campaign, “Fight for Scotland’s Nature”, for Scotland to have its own environment act. Scotland may be small, but our natural environment is mighty and of global importance. From the iconic Scots pine of the Caledonian Forest, home to rare species … [continue reading]
We're delighted that @TheOpenSeas has become the latest organisation to support our #FightForScotlandsNature campaign https://www.openseas.org.uk/
Scotland urgently needs a strong environment watchdog! @lloydaustin3 takes an in-depth look at @ScotGov's proposed new post-Brexit body and assesses whether it will have the independence, power and resources to do the job #FightForScotlandsNature https://www.fightforscotlandsnature.scot/news/scotlands-new-environment-watchdog-needs-more-teeth/
As part of the #fightforscotlandsnature campaign, we welcome Scotland's proposed Continuity Bill but share @scotlink's concerns about the strength & independence of the proposed environmental watchdog for Scotland.
https://www.fightforscotlandsnature.scot/news/how-good-are-scotlands-new-draft-environment-laws/
The EU Continuity Bill is a crucial piece of legislation for ensuring there is no backsliding on environmental protections post-Brexit. Welcome direction of travel in the Bill but key provisions need to be strengthened 👇 #FightforScotlandsNature https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18562105.warning-post-brexit-laws-will-not-properly-safeguard-scotlands-landscape-wildlife/
Protecting the environment is THE most important thing. Always good to get good news. #FightForScotlandsNature #ScotLINK